This past January, the NCAA made changes to rules surrounding on and offseason practice scheduling starting this semester. Specifically, they have changed the measurement for the length of the season from weeks to days.

“A new playing seasons structure for all sports besides football will be established that eliminates weeks as a measurement for a season,” the NCAA website says. “This establishes a traditional start and end date for fall and spring segments, increases the nontraditional segment interaction from 16 to 24 days, measures the winter sports season by 114 days with the flexibility to use eight days before or after the season, and measures seasons for sports such as golf, rowing, and tennis by 114 days.”

The changes to the rules will likely equate to a more intense or longer offseason, which the NCAA calls “nontraditional segment interaction.”

Natalie Dufour, a third-year middle hitter on the volleyball team, appreciates what the offseason can do for her individually and for the team as a whole. She asserts that the offseason is really what athletes make of it, and that individuals and teams who work incredibly hard will then see the results and rewards in the fall.

“In my past couple of years here, what [the offseason] has looked like is practice three times a week, and also we lift twice a week when we have practices with coaches,” Dufour said. “It’s more focused on individual skills and breaking down mechanics, while during the season in the fall, we’re much more focused on team dynamics and building those connections.”

Since volleyball is a fall sport, the team begins competition around the beginning of the school year. Due to the immediacy of the season, volleyball players, like all fall athletes, must treat the summer as a continuation of their offseason. Dufour said players must maintain their fitness and practice regularly during the summer in order to compete well in the fall.

Myranda Montoye, a fourthyear on the cross country and track & field teams, agreed with Dufour’s statements. She said that since track is such a technique and effort based sport, not training regularly will have immediate detrimental effects to runners’ speeds and times.

“The sport of running doesn’t allow you to take much time off because it’s not really a skillbased sport — you have to run,” Montoye said. “If you take more than a week or two off, you’re losing fitness.”

Montoye joined the cross country team this year as additional offseason training for her track season. She runs the 400-meter, which is a quarter-mile, either one lap around the outdoor track or two laps around the indoor track. She said that her issue is less her speed and more her endurance in the race, and that cross country training will improve her endurance and track results greatly.

Gavin Girard, a third-year defender on the men’s lacrosse team, is also in favor of the intensity and workload in the offseason. Lacrosse has three scrimmages in the fall offseason, two against other colleges and one against alumni. The rest of their offseason includes practices and additional lifting.

“Typically, we’ll go three times a week, go for about two hours, but in reality it’s more [like] two and a half hours with stretching and all that kind of stuff,” Girard said. “But it’s pretty intense once we get going.”

Girard, alongside multiple Yeomen on the lacrosse team, competed in a summer league to maintain his fitness and skills. He echoed the sentiments of both Dufour and Montoye.

“Absolutely [the offseason] helps,” Girard said. “I think especially with a huge [first-year] class of guys coming in who are learning the ropes of things, having the time and scrimmaging in the fall is huge for building that chemistry we’re gonna need.”

Volleyball’s next game is today in Wooster against St. Mary’s College of Indiana, lacrosse has its alumni game Saturday, Sept. 23 at 3 p.m., and track and field will likely start their season around early December.

Track and Field

On day one of the NCAC semi-finals Feb. 24 in Greencastle, IN, the women’s track and field team placed first of seven teams, while the men’s team placed sixth of eight overall. Also present at this championship was the women’s basketball team. All three teams cheered one another on throughout the events.

“If I’m being a little selfish, I will tell you Wittenberg’s track team was there too at the track meet but wasn’t at the basketball game,” Track and Field and Cross Country Coach Ray Appenheimer told the Review. “I really think [it] speaks to this place and this community. … We understand that the more supportive your community, the better your performance is going to be. … So much of what we do around here is ‘I see you … and I want to be here for you, and if there’s anything I can do to help support you, help challenge you, help build you up, I’m gonna do that for you.’ That’s not only a basketball or track thing, and it’s not only a department of Athletics thing — it’s an Oberlin thing. It is part of the fabric of this place, and it’s why we all choose to come here every single day.” (“Track and Field, Women’s Basketball Cheer Each Other On During NCAC Championships in Indiana,” The Oberlin Review, March 3, 2023)

Basketball

At the same NCAC tournament, the women’s basketball team defeated Wittenberg University 63–57 to advance to the finals, promoting them to the fourth seed in the conference. In the finals Feb. 25, Oberlin lost 79–71 to Ohio Wesleyan University’s Battling Bishops after a valiant effort. With just over 12 and a half minutes left in the game, the Yeowomen led by 11 points, but the third-seeded Battling Bishops ultimately upped their defense to win their sixth NCAC championship.

Lacrosse

Playing in poor weather conditions April 5, the women’s lacrosse team won its final non-conference game 15–5 before it entered a string of NCAC games.

“It was very sporadic, and in the moments of torrential rain, the game became very back-and-forth,” College third-year Audrey Koren told the Review. “Both teams had difficulty holding onto the ball because it was hard to see and everything was slippery. Once the rain would stop for a while, we did a good job regaining control and maintaining possession.” (“Women’s Lacrosse Defeats Baldwin Wallace,” The Oberlin Review, April 7, 2023)

Softball

The softball team ended its season April 26 with a 4–3 win in game two of a doubleheader against The College of Wooster. The game lasted nine innings. At the end of the seventh inning, the College of Wooster Fighting Scots and the Yeowomen were tied 1–1, but the Yeowomen pulled ahead in the bottom of the ninth with three additional runs. College first-year Hailey Alspach intercepted a steal during the game. Earlier this semester, Alspach spoke to the Review about her hopes for the team. “We have become an aggressive offensive team with a greater knowledge of how to handle certain defensive situations,” Alspach said. “Moving forward in the season, the team is really excited to see what we will be able to accomplish with everything we have learned. Hopefully, we’ll be able to show that this team is better at competing than last year and come out with more wins than before.” (“Despite Early Losses, Softball Optimistic for Season,” The Oberlin Review, March 10, 2023)

Baseball

Over spring break, the baseball team made a trip to Arizona for the Tucson Invitational, where the team won four games and lost three. During the team’s first matchup against Carleton College on the fifth day of the invitational, which Oberlin won 11–1, College third-year pitcher Vince Dolcemaschio won an NCAC award for his work on the mound. “[The trip] was awesome,” Dolcemaschio told the Review. “For me personally, baseball is my passion and number-one priority. Being able to only focus on baseball without the burden of school or homework was a pleasure. I wish every week could be like that.” (“Baseball, Softball Find Success During Spring Break Trips,” The Oberlin Review, March 31, 2023)

Tennis

The men’s tennis team won its final match before entering the NCAC tournament. This final win was an away game at Ohio Wesleyan University, and the final score was 8–1. Both the women’s and the men’s teams lost in the first round of the NCAC tournament — the men saw a 5–4 loss to Wabash College while the women lost with the same score to The College of Wooster.

The One Love Foundation was founded in 2010 after Yeardley Love, a fourth-year student and lacrosse player at the University of Virginia, was brutally beaten to death by her ex-boyfriend weeks before she was supposed to graduate. In her honor, Love’s mom and sister began the foundation to help increase awareness of abusive relationships while simultaneously educating students and athletes on the signs of a healthy relationship.

In April 2016, lacrosse player Alex Wagman OC ’16 began Oberlin’s One Love foundation chapter and led the first workshop. In a 2016 Review article (“Athletes Explore Relationship Violence,” The Oberlin Review, April 22, 2016), Wagman explained the difference between One Love and workshops held by Title IX.

“As an athlete, we have Title IX workshops that are somewhat similar, but they really don’t get you involved or motivate students to participate willingly,” Wagman said in the article. “The main difference for me is that One Love addresses the stuff that happens before the actual issue in an engaging and relatable way.”

Lee acknowledged the importance of One Love’s intersection with lacrosse.

“Having One Love be a lacrosse-based foundation makes it more accessible to the athletic community,” Lee said. “Student athletes are more willing to learn about what healthy and unhealthy relationships are through One Love.”

The workshops that occurred last year were called the Escalation Workshops, which Koren explained in further detail.

“This was the basic understanding and a longer workshop that covered the path of a direct abusive relationship where the woman was ultimately killed by her boyfriend, which is why One Love was created,” Koren said.

Unlike last year, these workshops were mandatory for all athletes. They consisted of a series that depicted the dynamic and dialogue among three friends when one of them was experiencing an unhealthy and abusive relationship. This year, the committee chose to focus the One Love workshops on the topic of “Door 3.”

“Door 3 was specifically about how you as a friend support your friend that is in an abusive relationship, what are the warning signs you’re seeing, how can you help, and what resources and tools you can use,” Patchen said.

Overall, this set of workshops was a success. They were facilitated by Patchen, Koren, and Lee, as well as by other members of Oberlin’s women’s lacrosse, field hockey, and track teams. Oberlin’s own sexual harm prevention education program, Preventing and Responding to Sexual Misconduct, also helped facilitate. The staff helped students identify the unhealthy signs shown in the video and discussed how everyone can support their peers when they begin to notice these signs in real life.

“We had really positive feedback for both workshops,” Lee said. “One of our goals was to start conversations and to have all student athletes be aware of what is happening, because we hear a lot about abusive, toxic, and manipulative relationships going on with our teammates and on the campus.”

By holding these workshops, students and student-athletes were educated on tell-tale signs of abusive relationships and were given a list of resources to help when these signs become present.

“Our goal is to provide a base for people to start having these hard conversations,” Patchen said. Because Koren and Lee were abroad during the fall, they were not able to organize a fall workshop to provide first-years the basis of the One Love Foundation. Next year the group hopes to hold more workshops earlier on. “Our plan for next year in the fall is to have a mandatory [first-year] athletes workshop so everybody has the same basic knowledge going into the spring workshops,” Koren said. “For the spring, we will pick another discussion topic and do another all athlete workshop.”

Overall, the 2023 “Door 3” workshops had a great turnout, with a majority of student athletes attending.

“For the three of us, this cause means a lot, and we want to give back to the athletic community,” Patchen said. “We are hoping that this is our legacy and it will continue on when we graduate.”

Oberlin shined on offense and defense, forcing 11 turnovers in addition to goals. First-year Megan Hiller set the pace early in both halves, scoring the first goal within the first five minutes and winning the stick-off in the second half. Third-years Audrey Koren, Emily Shimabukuro, and Abbie Patchen, as well as second-years Katie McMorris and Lauren Mills, also scored. Patchen earned a career high of six points and scored in her seventh consecutive game.

The Yeowomen held Baldwin Wallace to no goals in the first quarter, and while they gained an early lead, both teams went on a scoring drought in the second quarter. Oberlin didn’t find the net, and Baldwin Wallace scored its first goal. Hiller explained that this setback only further motivated the team to win.

“Not having scored any goals in the second quarter made us even more hungry to score in the third quarter,” Hiller wrote in an email to the Review. “We figured out what was and wasn’t working and used what we learned to capitalize in the second half. After talking and planning during our halftime break, we went into the second half of the game ready to execute our plays and strategically place our shots.”

Although women’s lacrosse did not play a game for 12 days after its spring break, during which it traveled to Florida to play against other teams, Koren said that the team used that break to its advantage and created a competition week.

“We were broken up into two teams, and everything during the week was a competition,” Koren wrote in an email to the Review. “It really fostered a competitive and fun environment. Competition week gave us time to reset and prepare for the second half of the season, while maintaining an intense environment. Everyone was excited to have a game again and I could really feel that energy on the field.”

Another challenge was the threat of severe weather that had been creeping through the Midwest — the game was moved up two hours to avoid potential storms, and even then, there was light rain during the game.

“It was very sporadic, and in the moments of torrential rain, the game became very back and forth,” Koren said. “Both teams had difficulty holding onto the ball because it was hard to see and everything was slippery. Once the rain would stop for a while, we did a good job regaining control and maintaining possession.”

Lacrosse is now looking to face DePauw University in a home game tomorrow.

Oberlin’s talent was felt across the entire roster, with the Yeomen scoring against the opposing team on many occasions. The Yeomen were also sound defensively — second-year goalie Joe Barocas played strong in his first career start, stopping 11 shots on goal and three ground balls.

“It was a great team win,” fourth-year Ryan Blasberg, an attack player on the team, said. “Our defense played well with Joe Barocas coming up big in the net. We continue to flow better and better [both offensively and defensively], and I’m looking forward to a great season.”

Men’s Lacrosse Head Coach Ryan Polak and the nine fourth- and fifth-years lead with experience, and the Yeomen have great chemistry within their ranks.

“We’ve got a big group of seniors with lots of experience who’ve done a great job supporting our underclassmen in their new roles,” fifth-year defensive player Kiernan Stone said.

With a host of fifth-year players included in the bunch, the skill and level added to the team by veterans is undeniable as they pass the torch down to their underclassmen successors. First- years Solomon Brennan, Jacob Starcke, Drew Bornstein, and Michael Dinkel will definitely be highlights of the roster in years to come, with both Bornstein and Brennan recording their first career goals in the game.

Blasberg led the charge with a career-high six-goal performance. Starcke also got in on the action, sitting closely behind Blasberg with four goals for the day. Second-year Sam Ryu was also a top scorer, notching an impressive three goals. Both Ryu and Starcke recorded the first hat tricks of their careers. Second-year Niko Maheras and fifth-year Michael Muldoon also scored goals during lock-in penalty moments to help secure the victory.

Dinkel explained that the effects of senior leadership are a key part of the Yeomen’s success felt throughout the ranks of the team.

“It’s a great team, and all the older guys have done a really good job creating a great team culture,” Dinkel said. “Not only are they great guys and make the team a lot of fun, but they are great leaders that I look up to.”

Overall, it seems that Coach Polak and his class of fourth- and fifth-years are fostering a positive environment that should steer the team in the right direction in years to come. The Yeomen look to continue their winning streak against Albion College at home tonight.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

How long have you played lacrosse? 

I’ve played lacrosse since kindergarten. It wasn’t my favorite sport because I didn’t like the contact at first, but I really grew to love and appreciate the game starting in middle school. Even though I played many other sports growing up, lacrosse always stuck out to me because of its fast pace and physicality.

What is one of your favorite memories from your time on the team? 

One of my favorite memories was going to Los Angeles for our spring break trip during my freshman year. We went to Disneyland, a Dodgers game … it was a really fun time and helped our team grow closer together.

Your team had an amazing season. How did it feel to make it to the semifinals, especially since it’s your last season at Oberlin? 

It was a great feeling to be a part of a team that made history by making the semifinals for the first time. Even though I was on the sidelines for the last couple games because of my ACL injury, it was still so rewarding to see guys stepping up and playing for each other. Playing with such a tight-knit group of friends made our team and individual accomplishments feel so much more meaningful. The progression our team has made since I’ve been here is really tangible, and I’m proud to be part of a class that was able to help push the team onto an upward trajectory.  

How did you become involved with teaching YeoFit classes? 

I have had a passion for boxing and mixed martial arts for a long time. After receiving a USA boxing license, I wanted to be able to share my skills and passion for the sport with others in a more accessible and friendly environment. YeoFit classes were a perfect avenue for this, and it was really fun to be able to teach students of all abilities and experience levels. Boxing is also a skill that can translate to real life scenarios and self-defense situations, so it makes teaching this sport a whole lot more meaningful to me.

What are you involved in outside of athletics? 

I am involved in neuroscience research with Leslie Kwakye OC ’06. Our lab is looking at how different symptomatologies affect multisensory integration and the way we perceive the world. I also work for admissions as a tour guide and an interviewer. Music has also been a big part of my life, so I take piano lessons in the Conservatory as well.

What are your post-Oberlin plans?

After graduation, I am going to move to New York to start a job as a research assistant in a neuroscience laboratory at New York University. I’m planning on doing this for two years and will hopefully attend medical school afterward!

College second-year on the lacrosse and soccer teams Maya Blevins explained that team activities had to be adjusted in accordance with ObieSafe regulations. Specifically, the women’s lacrosse team had to forfeit this past week due to an abnormally low number of field players, as many players are in isolation for COVID-19 exposure and miscellaneous injuries. 

“We had to cancel a game this past Saturday against DePauw,” Blevins wrote in an email to the Review. “We also had to miss two days of practice and made lift optional. Usually, we do film all together in the gym classroom, but instead, we were sent times to watch individually. Of course it has been very disappointing to lose time to be together, especially so close to the end of our season, but fortunately, throughout the majority of our season, we were mostly unaffected by COVID-19.”

Fourth-year lacrosse player Kiernan Stone believes that his team hasn’t been extremely affected by the rise in COVID cases on campus, but have had a couple players on the roster test positive.

“COVID’s affected our season a little bit this semester, but we’ve been pretty lucky so far,” he said. “We’ve only had a couple cases recently, so we missed a couple guys here and there, but we’ve been fortunate enough to not have widespread numbers throughout our team.”

In December 2021, when cases were rising on campus due to the Omicron variant, the team was worried that they wouldn’t be able to start their pre-season practices. Fortunately for them, by the time the squad returned to campus in January the numbers had dissipated.

In response to the rise in cases, Oberlin Athletics will continue to uphold the ObieSafe regulations implemented on April 21, keeping athletic facilities open with social distancing. The mask requirement was put back in place, with student-athletes required to wear masks during indoor meetings and in the weight room. However, in continuation with previous regulations, student-athletes are exempt from wearing masks during practice and competition. 

Delta Lodge Director of Athletics and Physical Education Natalie Winkelfoos added that Oberlin Athletics will not be adding additional testing and will try to reschedule games that are canceled as a result of weather or COVID-19. 

“We will not be doing any additional testing, … staying the course with the guidelines that are in place today,” she wrote in an email to the Review. “Whether games are postponed/canceled due to weather or COVID-19, we always do our best to reschedule games.”

At this point, the women’s lacrosse team is used to being flexible regarding changes due to the pandemic. After experiencing a season cancellation and shortened season, the team is grateful for any day they get to play the game that they love. 

“Our team knows best the sharp adjustments that come with the pandemic,” Blevins wrote. “In 2020, the lacrosse season was cut short when Oberlin students got sent home. In 2021, we only got to play four games and wore masks while playing. I think this has made my team even more grateful for the times we do get to be together. Before every game, we remind ourselves that we never know what could happen tomorrow, so we have to give everything we have today.” 

Similarly, Stone knows what it’s like to have to navigate the pandemic with sports and emphasizes the importance of valuing your time with your teammates. In his, Stone was sent home in March of 2020 like the rest of campus, resulting in his season being cut short, and only got to play half of a regular season in 2021 when the College reinstated athletic competition. 

“We know things can change at any given moment, so we gotta play every moment as if it were our last,” he said. “All we can do is hope for the best, knowing that things could change right away. Cherishing the time that we have together is what keeps us going.”

This year Decker has proven himself to be a powerhouse for the Yeomen, helping them achieve a 5–3 standing in the conference and an 11–4 record overall; the last time the Yeomen have done this well was back in the ’80s. This season Decker already scored 33 goals. At an away game against DePauw University earlier this month, Decker scored 5 out of the 14 goals. He’s already catching up to his statistics from 2018 and 2019, and is on a trajectory to break his personal records.

Head coach of the men’s lacrosse team Ryan Polak belives that Decker is a standout player not only because of his achievements on the field, but also the positive attitude that he brings to the overall team. 

“Tom is a joy to watch and coach; he’s a natural goal scorer and has solidified his name in the history books this spring,” Polak said. “He currently sits at 6th all-time in career goals, 9th all-time in career assists, and 8th all-time in career points. But while these are great individual achievements Tom has made, Tom would tell you that he could not have done it without his teammates. Tom takes the field each day looking to compete with his teammates and have fun; you can tell by the way he plays he loves the game.”

Indeed, Decker cites his teammates as an essential part of his career. During his first two years on the team, he looked up to the seniors as role models. Now a senior himself, he hopes to fulfill that same part for the underclassmen. Decker doesn’t see himself as a verbal leader, but rather a leader by example, bringing intensity and lightheartedness to the game. This season, he’s glad to have others besides himself scoring for the team. 

“We got guys like [first-year] Niko Maheras, [fourth-year] Michael Muldoon, [and third-year] Max Cha who will also put up huge numbers for us and be really great guys at the same time,” Decker said. “It’s not one or two guys on the team who are really scoring a lot of goals, which has kind of been the case in the past.”

Tom’s teammates, second-years John McDonell and Aidan Loh both look up to Decker’s achievements and aspire to be as great of teammates as him. 

“Decker is a phenomenal player but an even better teammate [who] cares about every single member of the team,” McDonell said.

“Tom has made one of the greatest positive impacts on the culture as well as on the field for our team,” said Loh. “He’s a great player and obviously one of the best in the program’s history.”  

Although Decker may stay humble about his remarkable athletics career, Polak speaks highly of Decker’s admirable character and knows that he’s an irreplacable player for his crew.

“Oberlin lacrosse will miss Tom dearly — he is a once-in-a-lifetime-type player, and we’d like to thank him for everything he has given to the program,” Polak said. “Off the field as a person, Tom is one of the most genuine people I have met. Tom always makes time for others, he shows kindness and compassion to all on campus. It’s the way Tom carries himself each day that impresses you as he is showing our team — especially the younger players — what it takes to be a successful student-athlete at Oberlin. We all need to be a little more like Tom.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

When did you first get into lacrosse?

I started playing lacrosse in third grade. I was living in Nazareth, PA at the time. So that’s how I got introduced to the sport. 

You’ve scored a lot of goals in your career, including 31 this year. When did you discover that you had an eye for the net?

I’ve been an offensive player ever since I started playing lacrosse. I played midfield when I first started out and realized the offensive side suited me as a player better. I actually moved down to attack for most of my career and just recently switched back to midfield this past season to fill gaps that we had. Coach Polack, who’s been here for a couple of years, saw the way I play is more conducive to playing from in front of the net — for attack, you’re operating more behind the net. 

Can you speak to what Coach Polack and the rest of the staff have done in their time here?

Everything Coach Polack does is for the purpose of making us a winning program. He’s super motivated. He’s young. So are Coach O’Neill and Coach Mumford. They’re all young guys who are super motivated to bring up Oberlin men’s lacrosse. It’s just the way they conduct themselves. It’s very much just having an emphasis on everything that we do on and off the field. They try to create a very competitive but fun atmosphere on the practice field, which I think has been really helpful in terms of us being able to progress on the lacrosse field.

What’s been the best part about playing lacrosse at Oberlin?

When I was first looking here, I was really excited at the opportunity to be able to grow a program because that’s the situation I was in when I was living back in Pennsylvania. It was a new program and it was really exciting to be there from the beginning to watch it grow. I saw a similarity to Oberlin. Just having the opportunity to bring this program up to where I think we can be. I think that was probably one of the most rewarding things so far seeing how far this program has come since my first year. Stepping on campus as an Oberlin men’s lacrosse player, you’re immediately surrounded by 35 of your best friends. All you have to do is be a part of the team and you’re accepted. You don’t have to do anything special. To have that closely knit community is really awesome.

What does your team aim to accomplish the rest of the season?

We’re definitely trying to make the playoffs for the first time. We have a few more conference games that we have to take care of, but the goal is to make the North Coast Atlantic Conference tournament. Once we get there, we’ll build off of that and try to go as far as we possibly can.

What are your interests and hobbies outside of lacrosse?

I really like golf. When I was a first-year, one of the seniors had started on a club golf team here. It’s been kind of slow since COVID-19, trying to get that back up and running, but golf is a big hobby of mine. Also, at home this past summer, I got my real estate license. I’ve been working with my mom, who’s a real estate agent in New Jersey, and have grown my appreciation for the real real estate market. Helping out with that is something I like to do when I’m back at home. 

What are your plans after graduation?

I’m planning on going to physical therapy school. I actually injured my knee during my junior and senior year of high school and had to do a lot of physical therapy to rehab that. Before that experience, I knew I wanted to do something in the medical field, but wasn’t exactly sure what. After going through that experience and being in a physical therapy office, I realized that it was something that I would really like to pursue as a career.